Derry Clarke Visits St. John’s Ballyfermot

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Derry Clarke, celebrity chef, visits St. John’s College, De La Salle, Ballyfermot

By 2D – Reece, Jake, Lennon, Patrick, Daryl, Cian, Andrew and Sean

 

On Wednesday 8th March, 2017 Derry Clarke visited our school.  Our class and the 1st years who do Home Economics were lucky enough to be at the 2 hour demonstration he gave.  Some of our teachers who were free came in too. 

Derry told us that he started out washing pots during his summer holidays when he was 13 in a restaurant in Kinsale, Co. Cork.  At the age of 15 he had decided he wanted to be a chef.  He trained and worked hard to achieve his goal.  He now owns and runs his own Michelin star restaurant “L’Ecrivain” on Baggot Street in the city.

During his demonstration he cooked Roast Red Pepper soup with Chorizo and white beans.  He also made stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in bacon with mustard and honey glaze and a Banoffi sundae.  He showed us how to cook the perfect steak.  He got some of us to volunteer to help him.  There were a lot of us willing to help! 

We asked loads of questions and Derry was happy to answer them all.  He was surprised by how much we knew about the foods he was using.  Derry was asked by one lad was he “better than Gordon Ramsey?” and he answered “who is Gordon Ramsey!  This got a good laugh. We got some good tips for our Home Economics classes in the future like putting a damp towel under a chopping board to stop it slipping.    We also learned that Derry loves salt!! Poor Aaron had a sore arm seasoning the steak. 

We were so lucky to get a taste of all the food that Derry made and it was delicious especially the steak and the sundae. 

At the end of the demonstration Derry let us take photos and he gave us autographs. We thought Derry was a very nice, down to earth, kind and generous person. 

All in all, it was a real privilege to welcome Derry to St. John’s College Home Economics room and an experience we will all remember.

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